In-dee-pen-dant

Every time I say the word "Independent," I think of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, and say it accordingly. :)

Anyway...

We had a super fun 4th this year. My favorite holiday rarely disappoints, but this year we had a fabulous group of friends to celebrate with, and that just made it all the better. :)

Me, LeAnn Mills, Lacey Nef, Katie Taylor (+James), Sharlie Zinniger. Friends for life!

We actually kicked the holiday off the night before, with a viewing of Independence Day. Such a fun film, and it definitely got us in the American spirit. I think we'll make this a yearly tradition.

The next morning, we headed up to our first stop, a marvelous breakfast at our good friends, the Nef's house. They both grew up in Southeast Idaho, too! Lacey had it set up festively and the food was fabulous.

After that, we headed out to the parade route.

Now, personally, I love parades! The candy, the excitement, the marching bands...Walt's not sold on them though. He doesn't love the crowds. 

And Zuzu spent most of it like this:

But we still had a lot of fun. :)

Next we headed with our friends over to a BBQ. This was by far Walt's favorite part of the day, because of this:

He-LO, giant water slide! My friends are awesome. :)

We also ate a lot of really good food and just generally caused a ruckus.

We snuck out of the BBQ a bit early because, as I explained to my friends, I NEED a big fireworks show in my life...but since it was cold and a bit rainy, we decided it may not be super responsible to take a newborn and sit outside for hours. So we opted for the "drive in" experience.

Best. Idea. Ever.

We brought popcorn, pillows and blankets, parked up above the lake, and had a great time! My phone died, so I don't have any good pictures, but it was awesome.

Happy 4th of July!!!